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Title 39, Postal ServiceRelease 119-102

§3683 Uniform Rates for Books; Films; Other Materials

Title 39 › PART IV — MAIL MATTER › CHAPTER 36 — POSTAL RATES, CLASSES, AND SERVICES › SUBCHAPTER VI — GENERAL › § 3683

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires postage for the mail listed in former section 4554 to be the same for items of the same weight, no matter how far they travel. The reduced rates in former section 4554(b)(1) only apply to the materials named in former section 4554(b)(2) and only when mailed between certain parties: the listed institutions or similar organizations; those institutions and individuals (not people who profit from the materials); those institutions and qualified nonprofits (see former section 4452(d)); or those institutions and publishers when the institution ordered the materials.

Full Legal Text

Title 39, §3683

Postal Service, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the rates of postage established for mail matter enumerated in former section 4554 of this title shall be uniform for such mail of the same weight, and shall not vary with the distance transported.
(b)The rates of postage under former section 4554(b)(1) of this title shall not be effective except with respect to mailings which—
(1)constitute materials specified in former section 4554(b)(2) of this title; and
(2)are sent between—
(A)an institution, organization, or association listed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of such former section 4554(b)(1) and any other such institution, organization, or association;
(B)an institution, organization, or association referred to in subparagraph (A) and any individual (other than an individual having a financial interest in the sale, promotion, or distribution of the materials involved);
(C)an institution, organization, or association referred to in subparagraph (A) and a qualified nonprofit organization (as defined in former section 4452(d) of this title) that is not such an institution, organization, or association; or
(D)an institution, organization, or association referred to in subparagraph (A) and a publisher, if such institution, organization, or association has placed an order to purchase such materials for delivery to such institution, organization, or association.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Former section 4452 and 4554 of this title, referred to in text, mean section 4452 and 4554 of former Title 39, The Postal Service, prior to the general revision and reenactment of Title 39 by Pub. L. 91–375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 719.

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–123 amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “The rates for mail matter specified in former section 4554(a)(1) or 4554(b)(2)(A) of this title, when mailed from a publisher or a distributor to a school, college, university, or library, shall be the rate currently in effect for such mail matter under the provisions of former section 4554(b)(1) of this title.” 1976—Pub. L. 94–421 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1993 Amendment Pub. L. 103–123, title VII, § 706(b), Oct. 28, 1993, 107 Stat. 1272, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to mail sent after September 30, 1993.”

Effective Date

Section effective Jan. 20, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–10 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

39 U.S.C. § 3683

Title 39, Postal Service

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102